


you haven't met the new me yet

by wonderwall_mp4



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Pain!, RuLiv, Soft Girlfriends, because i felt like there needed to be a little bit more story there, livruby, takes place between them making up on the ko show and the interview afterwards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:08:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27769555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderwall_mp4/pseuds/wonderwall_mp4
Summary: liv and ruby talk it out.(title from happiness by taylor swift)
Relationships: Liv Morgan/Ruby Riot | Heidi Lovelace
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23





	you haven't met the new me yet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [voidcine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/voidcine/gifts).



> “All you want from me now is the green light of forgiveness,  
> You haven't met the new me yet,  
> And I think she'll give you that.”

Ruby’s hands were still shaking. Liv could see it, even from across the room. 

Liv was surprised that hers weren’t too, to be honest. Surprised and proud that she’d faced her best friend-  _ former _ best friend, damn it- without having a complete meltdown. 

Neither had dared make eye contact since they’d left the stage. The way Ruby had smiled at her made her heart flutter and her lips turn upwards in spite of herself, but she stomped it down. She couldn’t afford to be that obedient, lovestruck puppy-dog anymore. Did she really think that all was forgiven after just one heartfelt speech? Her cheeks hadn’t even dried yet from when she heard Ruby say her name. Her knee still twinged with every step whenever it rained. She still had to resist the urge to flinch whenever she was touched, even by a friend. Her colorful gear had darkened to black, and  _ she _ had done that to her. 

Her heart wanted everything to go right back to normal. Her head knew it couldn’t.

After a moment of silence, save for the dull roar and pounding of the crowd’s feet against the asphalt, Liv chanced a glance towards Ruby to find her already looking. All at once, Ruby surged forward, holding out her hand, and in spite of herself Liv gasped, squeaked, and leapt backwards, stumbling over a chair in fear. A stricken expression crossed Ruby’s face: regret, longing, and maybe even a tiny bit of self-loathing. Her hand dropped to her side.

“I’m sorry,” said Ruby again. She’d said those words so many times that they didn’t even sound like real words to Liv anymore.

Liv shook her head, righting herself. “We needed to help KO, and there happened to be two of us and two of them. One match doesn’t mean everything is peachy.” 

“So… you don’t accept my apology?” asked Ruby, her voice small. 

“What do you want me to do here, Ruby?” cried Liv. Ruby’s face fell. Neither of them could remember the last time she’d called Ruby by her real name and not a friendly nickname. Even when they were fighting, Liv just didn’t refer to her at all. Liv stared at her, jaw set to keep her lip from trembling. “You have  _ no _ idea how much you hurt me. How much you destroyed my life.”

“I do! I-”

“No.” Liv stepped closer, her voice suddenly growing icy, and this time Ruby was the one to stumble back. “You don’t. Because you couldn’t possibly know that I have nightmares about this  _ exact _ thing happening, and then you just betraying me all over again.” A tear slipped down her cheek. Liv wished more than anything that it hadn’t. She didn’t want Ruby to see she was crumbling. “You couldn’t know that I cried myself to sleep every night for a month afterwards. And… and there’s no way you could ever know how much I loved you, because even I didn’t know until you were gone.” 

“Liv…” Ruby’s voice cracked. “I-“

“Please don’t say you’re sorry again. You’ve said it enough.”

Ruby shook her head. “I was just going to say I love you too.” Liv bit her lip, emotion welling in her chest. “I never stopped, even when I was an idiot and threw everything we had away.”

Liv had heard her say those words to her so many times over the years, and longed for her to say them in a way that truly mattered, and she hated that it had to be now, when they were broken like this. Liv gulped back a sob. “If whatever you did to me was what you think love is, I don’t want it.”

“It’s not, Liv, that wasn’t love.” Ruby furiously searched for words. “I tried to explain it out there, but- I- I’ve loved you since we were practically kids, debuting together on Smackdown with Sarah. We were so close, and you were so adorable and so scrappy, always raring to prove yourself. You were my little firecracker. And for some reason when I came back I expected you to still be that shiny, happy kid, and when you weren’t, I got scared and insecure and I just snapped at you. I didn’t know yet that I would love the person you’d become, too, because she’s still Liv. You’re still my Liv. I know that now.”

In spite of the anger and fear that roiled in the pit of her stomach, she felt herself moving towards Ruby. She  _ wanted  _ to forgive her. She wanted Ruby to be telling the truth, she wanted to believe that she had changed, they’d both changed, and they could still love each other despite everything.

Wanting made her weak. Weakness could be exploited. But she still wanted Ruby.

“I’m not asking for it to be the same as it was,” pleaded Ruby. They were still feet apart, but closer together than they’d been before. “I know it probably won’t ever be like it was, because we aren’t the same people we were then. But let me prove how much I still love you, and maybe, eventually, we could make it even better.”

“How?” murmured Liv, so low that she was surprised Ruby could even hear her.

“I’ll always have your back, and I’ll let you have mine,” Ruby promised. She stepped forward, and this time Liv didn’t flinch away. “I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe. I’ll tell you every single day how much I love you, how much I care about you, how much I regret hurting you, and I’ll never stop for the rest of our careers and even our lives together.” Liv couldn’t stop another tear from rolling down her cheek. “And I know anyone can say things they don’t mean, but actions are impossible to fake. I mean it, and I’ll show you how much I mean it for as long as you want me.”

“That’s a lot,” Liv said quietly. ”A lot of things you’ll need to do, for a long time.”

“You’re worth it.” Ruby smiled at her, a tearful smile, full of hope. “I know it’s a lot. I don’t expect you to be okay right away, and I know I need to work on a lot of things. But could we start with something small? Maybe a hug?”

Liv teetered on the edge of her decision, on the edge of nothingness. Everything in her was at war, screaming back and forth that this was a terrible idea, that she should do it anyways, that she was weak and stupid for trusting Ruby, that she was brave for trusting Ruby, that she wanted Ruby, that she only needed herself, and everything in between.

This should have been Old Liv’s problem. New Liv had no trouble burning bridges. Did this inner struggle mean she was regressing back to naïve, small, lonely, desperate Old Liv? 

No, she rationalized. Inner struggle meant she had changed. It reminded her she was alive and moving. Old Liv would have taken Ruby back without a second thought even if it meant hurting herself, because she relied on her. New Liv was slow to trust, slow to forgive, and she didn’t need another person to survive anymore. Her hair wouldn’t suddenly turn pink and her tongue wouldn’t magically turn blue if she forgave Ruby. She didn’t have to leave everything behind to change for the better.

Loving Ruby wasn’t just part of Old Liv. Loving Ruby was a part of Liv, period. All of her.

Liv wasn’t that shiny, happy kid anymore. Ruby had gotten that right. Liv could take care of herself. She didn’t need anyone to survive, but that didn’t stop her from wanting. She knew what she wanted, and right then, she wanted to forgive Ruby. And even if it was hard, even if Ruby hurt her again, she  _ really _ wanted to try.

Liv took the metaphorical step, closer to the edge. She leaned over the cliff. She embraced the fall that was about to come. “I forgive you,” she said. 

Ruby grinned even wider, eyes brimming with tears. She didn’t smile too often, but she was even more beautiful when she did. Once upon a time, Liv loved to be the one to make her smile. The sight still made her heart skip a beat.

So Liv stepped forward one more time, stepped into nothingness, and Ruby caught her, wrapped her arms around her. She felt all the air leave her lungs as she sank into Ruby’s embrace. It all felt so new, and yet it was the most familiar and easy thing in the world. Hugging Ruby had always felt like home to Liv; everything had changed, but that hadn’t.

Liv had gotten used to the change, worked through it, made her peace with the continual metamorphosis she was going through, even embraced it, but it was like a breath of relief to have Ruby, her constant, back again.

“Thank you,” Ruby whispered, her breath tickling Liv’s ear. “Thank you for forgiving me. For trusting me.”

“I love you, Rue,” breathed Liv, clinging tightly to Ruby. 

“I love you, too, Liv,” Ruby said, letting out something halfway between a laugh and a sob.

Liv pulled back from the hug, and Ruby touched her forehead against Liv’s, a familiar gesture. “I’m a little scared,” admitted Liv.

Hurt flashed across Ruby’s face, but to her credit, she tried her best not to show it, because she knew she deserved it. “That’s okay,” Ruby said finally. “I get it. But I promise you I’m going to try my best to never hurt you.”

“You better not, or else you’re never seeing me again,” Liv threatened.

The message rang true, but there was a slight giggle in her voice, and it made Ruby relax. “You can hold me to that.” 

Liv thumbed a stray tear off of Ruby’s chin, not saying anything, just letting her eyes trace the lines of her face. After a moment, Ruby leaned up to kiss her on the forehead, and Liv felt her lips break into a smile despite herself. 

Despite them just telling each other they loved each other for the very first time, she didn’t feel like they needed to have a big, epic kiss or anything right then. That wasn’t their style. Liv was much more excited to learn all about how New Liv and New Ruby worked together. All of that romance stuff could come later. For now, they could just be themselves, and that was overwhelming enough for Liv. One baby step at a time.

“Can we go change now? You’re starting to stink a little,” joked Liv.

Ruby’s jaw dropped, and she went to swat Liv on the arm, but seemingly thought better of it. She settled on resting her hand gently against Liv’s shoulder. “Rude. You’re one cheeky broad, Liv Morgan.” 

“Yeah, but you love it.” Liv reached for Ruby’s hand, almost on instinct, and Ruby intertwined their fingers together with a happy sigh. 

“I do,” said Ruby fondly. 

They walked towards the door, hand-in-hand. Ruby stopped in her tracks as she realized something. “Oh, they’re gonna want to interview us, aren’t they? What are we gonna tell them?”

“The truth,” said Liv decisively. Ruby tilted her head to the side slightly, questioning. Liv turned to look at her with a soft smile. “That we’re figuring it out as we go. That we’re working on it. That you’re working on it, and it’s going to be different, but unlike anything anyone has ever seen.”

“I like that,” said Ruby, smiling back at Liv, who pulled Ruby towards the door with an echo of the eagerness of her former self. And then they left the room, together, towards whatever the world dared throw at them next.

**Author's Note:**

> come chat with me on twitter @rulivya tumblr @transmazikeen and instagram @evechloes 
> 
> comments are also greatly appreciated and necessary to my personal well-being!
> 
> also i was going to make an edit of liv and ruby to pov because of this fic but devany beat me to it so stream 🔫  
> https://twitter.com/luvvbecks/status/1332781593061183490?s=21


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